Clicker®

Andy McGowan
St Saviour CP School Bolton

I have used Clicker 4 extensively with children in years 1 and 2. I have found it to be an incredibly powerful tool in building confidence with reluctant/struggling writers, as well as stretching my more able children. It has also proved to be an incredibly supportive tool for children with English as a second language, who have used the speech element of Clicker 4 to listen to what they have written. Having also installed the animations, the children could relate their stories to the animations. This brought them to life for many who saw their stories through pictures and words. It also brought a smile to their faces and made learning enjoyable.

"I tend to make my own resources...
from recording science experiments
to writing poetry"I tend to make my own resources with Clicker – from word banks to talking stories, from recording science experiments to writing poetry. I have found Clicker to be a perfect partner for my SMART Board – I have used it very effectively in this way to produce story-building models. These were also supported by the Clicker Grids, for structuring traditional stories. This is the key strength of Clicker – you are not stuck with what you are given – you can tailor activities to suit individual needs, no matter what the child’s ability. If an individual struggles when working with Clicker, a computer buddy can always help!

I think the new speech support in Clicker 5 is one of the best new features – it really sounds almost human!

"Clicker is by far the best software tool..."Clicker is by far the best software tool for developing confidence in all areas of reading and writing that I have ever used. It offers many opportunities to all children, with endless possibilities for both the children and the teacher. We used Clicker as part of a Learning Networks project in Bolton, where we exchanged ideas between schools last year.

Unfortunately I moved school in January so all the work I did is no longer available to me. The Clicker work completed by the children formed a key part of Literacy Development in my old school. I am currently investigating purchasing Clicker 5 for St Saviours School, as the children have never experienced Clicker.

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